“You don’t even know me that well,” she says. “Our marriage isn’t even a month old.”
A laugh slips out of me before I can stop it.
Her brows knit together immediately. “What?”
I shake my head slowly.
“Did you forget,” I say, “that I’ve been stalking you for years before the marriage?”
The words land heavily between us.
I don’t look away.
“I started tracking you after I read one of your research papers,” I admit.
She blinks, clearly thrown. “What paper?”
“The one you published about linguistic coding inside criminal networks,” I say. “The analysis you did on how certain groups embed instructions inside ordinary conversation.”
Her lips part slightly.
“I attended your conference presentation,” I continue. “Anonymously.”
I remember it perfectly.
The lecture hall. The way she stood at the podium, explaining patterns most people in that room barely understood.
“You broke down the communication structure of three different criminal organizations in under forty minutes,” I say. “And you did it with more accuracy than most intelligence agencies manage in a year.”
For a moment, Ellie just stares at me.
Then something in her expression softens.
“So…you love my work?” she asks quietly.
I huff out a short laugh. “Hell yes.” I shake my head slightly, still remembering how impressed I was that day. “I think you’re very fucking intelligent.”
The faintest color creeps into her cheeks.
And for the first time since she walked into my office, the hostility between us loosens just a little.
She suddenly giggles.
A soft, surprised sound, like she didn’t expect it from herself.
“I didn’t know about that,” she says.
I study her, then I add more quietly, “And I should apologize for something.”
Her brows lift slightly. “For what?”
“For not letting you go back to the university.”
She goes still, clearly not expecting that.
“I know your work matters to you,” I continue. “But right now I’m thinking about your safety first.”
I pause before finishing the thought.
